28-day self-guided challenge

I modeled the Forensics Found Challenge after Debby Irving’s Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge - please check out her self-guided challenges for more important personal development work

 

Hello Responders!

If you’re like me, your job description contains standard operating procedures and “other duties as assigned.” You’re good at taking orders and following protocols. For this challenge, I’d like you to choose your own adventure - you’re in control now.

 

Personal development “consists of activities that develop a person's capabilities and potential, build human capital, facilitate employability, and enhance quality of life and the realization of dreams and aspirations.” Responders seem to bend until they break before they move into the path of personal development. It was sure true for me! I was all “everything is fine - this job doesn’t bother me a bit” and then BAM! I was a hot mess. For me, removing alcohol from my life was the one “Big Domino” that fell in order to move me into the path of personal development. In July 2020, I took a 30-day Challenge with This Naked Mind and got curious about how alcohol affected my life. This challenge is not about alcohol (unless you want it to be!) - this challenge is about getting curious about your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. With this challenge, you will begin to take control of your life and start to reconnect with yourself. After 28-days of personal development activities, I am confident that you will feel more aware of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and goals. Get in control today.

 

SHOULD (requirements)

  1. Pick one activity each day from one of the groups below.

  2. Track your activities with this Worksheet.

  3. Complete the ACT Technique portion in the worksheet

    ** Need something extra? I find this Chart useful!

COULD (recommended)

  1. Sign up for the Forensics Found newsletter

  2. Follow me on social media FB page @ForensicsFoundMentor, groups @Responders:LastCall Public or @Responders:LastCall (a private, invite only group), and on IG @forensics_found and @responder_lastcall

  3. Talk to your colleagues, friends, and family about what’s going on with you! Sharing vulnerably is kryptonite against feelings of loneliness, shame, and guilt. You are not alone!

    If you feel like it’s too much, call the suicide hotline 800-273-8255

 

  • When the Calls Stop: Retiring as a First Responder

    Mindfulness for Warriors

    First Responder Trauma Guide and Recovery Workbook

    The Body Keeps the Score

    This Naked Mind (first 40pages free!)

    Quit Like a Woman

  • Respond vs. React

    5 Minute Anti Anxiety Trick

    Wheel of Life

    Cravings are a Signal

  • This Naked Mind

    Sober and Present

    Tailboard Talk

    10% Happier

    UnF*CK Your Brain

  • Here is a list of self-care activities and other hobbies I picked up during my recovery. Research shows that exposing your brains to new experiences is one of the best defenses against dementia. When offering new foods to my kids, I tell them they have to take “a no-thank you bite.” If you’ve never done some of the things listed here, just try them. You won’t know they’re not for you until you try them.

    • Hot tub soak or hot showers

    • Cold water therapy

    • Walks with dogs to new parts of the neighborhood or to a new park in town

    • Tickling my kids

    • Painting furniture

    • Meditation

    • Tapping

    • Puzzels

    • Setting up a fancy dinner at home, with printed menu and dressy clothes (we called it Chez Pope)

    • Hot tea with lemon

    • Sudoku

  • FAQ:

  • Instagram profiles and Facebook groups! Surround yourself with pro-responders, wellness, sober, and sober-curious people!

  • Think about your life and your story like a tree. Write it all out - focusing on places where you have struggles or would like to see growth. In green highlighter, circle the trunk of the tree - all of the things you consider to be facts. In orange highlighter, circle the limbs of the tree - all of the things that are thoughts or interpretations about those facts.

    For the trunks of your tree, the green highlights, answer the following:

    1. Name the Facts.

      1. Where does it come from?

      2. How do you feel about it? How does it make you feel (in your body)?

    2. Is it TRUE?

      1. What is the evidence?

      2. What is your interpretation?

      3. How do you see the people around you?

    3. What else could be true?

    For the limbs of your tree, the orange highlights, answer each of the following:

    1. Name the thought.

      1. For example “wine helps me connect with my family after a hard scene.”

    2. How does that make you feel?

      1. It would make me feel relaxed

    3. How does it make you behave?

      1. I would end up having 5 glasses of wine.,

      4. Turn it around!

      1. A glass of wine would give me a buzz for 20min and then my BAC would fall lower than before, leaving me more stressed out and less connected with my family.

  • Yoga - check out your area for First Responder Yogas (my local studio has one and I live in a pretty small town!)

    Weight lifting program - having a daily regime gives you something to look forward to. Check out daily programs like Effective Fitness Training with scheduled workout days formulated for Responders.

    Running

    Swimming

    Sports teams with local Parks&Rec or your agency

  • Don’t use “Call” as an excuse to eat or drink junk every again. Check out this nationwide list of Free or cheap food for Responders

    Here is a great article on meal prepping for Responders.

    Mocktails are mock-cocktails or mixed drinks using zero-proof drinks. My favorites:

    Seedlip - gin alternative for G&Ts

    Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher - snooty craft beer lovers enjoy this one too!

    HopLark - special veterans blend!

 

Interested in learning more? Book a free call with me and learn about how mentoring can improve your life as a responder. Click the DISPATCH button to find a time that works for you!